In a world maimed by war, climate change, economic dysfunction and political failures, the flows of migration are as intense as they have ever been. Child migrants are central actors in this movement of people across borders and continents. As those in receiving countries such as Australia know well, however, the child migrant is not always kindly greeted on arrival.

As recently as November 2012, the current Minister for Immigration commented that ‘It doesn’t matter whether you’re a child, … it doesn’t matter whether you’re an unaccompanied minor, it doesn’t matter whether you have a health condition, … if you’re fit enough to get on a boat, you’re fit enough to … end up in offshore processing’. Is this the only way to think about journeys, arrivals and settlement?

The lecture looks at how the child migrant has figured in world cinema since 1939, and argues that the child retains a special power in describing, performing and critiquing the great movements and translations that make the world global.